Dear Arizona Federal Representatives,

Arizona universities support more than 30,000 employees, serve more than 250,000 students, and their research improves the lives of every Arizonan. Research at our public institutions has driven breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, cardiovascular treatments, cybersecurity, and national defense that enhance quality of life and fuel economic growth.

Despite longstanding bipartisan support for scientific research nationally, the Trump administration is withholding funds and threatening to further cut billions of dollars in federal funding in a politically motivated attack on the research that has made such breakthroughs possible. The threatened cuts to funding for the NIH, NSF, NASA, USDA, DoD, DOE, EPA, CDC, NOAA, and other federal agencies will cripple essential research and dismantle US science, 'making us poorer, sicker, and more blind to developing problems' (Gleick 2025). Estimates show that a 25% cut to federal research funding alone would hit the U.S. economy with the same force as the 2008 Great Recession.

The University of Arizona and Arizona State University each surpass $1 billion in research expenditures annually. Research and development is so vital to powering Arizona industry and innovation, that cuts to research funding could impact the state economy even more severely than the nation as a whole. NASA funding alone generates $337 million in economic activity in Arizona each year. Since the end of 2022, Arizona has received nearly $11 billion in funds from the DOE and EPA for clean energy research and development, set to create more than 18,000 jobs over the next few years.

The current administration’s actions are not just an attack on science: they risk critical medical breakthroughs for vulnerable populations, including veterans and children. For instance, fifty years ago, almost half of all children diagnosed with cancer would die. Now, about 85% survive. It's not just an attack on budgets. Without investments now, scientific innovation and training for the next generation will stop, and clinical trials and expertise will be lost.

We urge you to uphold long-standing bipartisan support for U.S. scientific research that saves lives, sustains our economy, and nurtures the scientific talent that will secure our nation's future. For both the state of Arizona and our country as a whole, we urge you to stand with universities and scientists by:
1) opposing all cuts to federal research funding and
2) defending the rights of scientists to conduct and publish research without impediment, harassment, threat, or retaliation.